For a long time, adaptations have been evaluated according to their =20=93faithfulness=94 to the =93original=94 work, but the limits of this =20=

approach have become increasingly apparent, as Brian McFarlane has =20shown: =93Fidelity is obviously very desirable in marriage; but with =20film adaptations, I suspect playing around is more effective.=94 =20Adapting literature to the big screen implies revision, if not =20transformation. Rather than simply denigrating film adaptations as =20impoverished versions of their literary counterparts, we would like =20to examine adaptation as a meeting point of two modes of expression, =20whose very confrontation is enlightening. Whether by strengthening =20new themes in a classic novel (India in Mira Nair=92s Vanity Fair), =20appropriating a well-known tale for a modern audience (Baz Luhrmann=92s =20=

Romeo + Juliet), creating new aspects of the original story (the =20romance in Francis Ford Coppola=92s Dracula), or feeding on the success =20=

of a best-seller (The Bourne Identity, L.A. Confidential), film =20adaptations tell us something about ourselves, our society, and our =20understanding and appetite for literary works. They also reveal =20alternative facets of familiar literary works, which may explain the =20uncanny hold that adaptations have on the public. Topics might include:

Theorization of film adaptationSpecific examples of film adaptations of novels, short stories, and =20playsIntertextuality in film adaptationsCritical reception of film adaptationsPostcolonial and gender-related transformations of literary worksSociological approaches to adaptation: what does adaptation reveal =20about the adaptors and their public?Stylistic concerns: are some authors more easily adaptable than others?Genres and film adaptationHistory of film adaptationHierarchy and authorityThe attraction of adaptation for the film industry: the economic side

This list is not exhaustive.

Papers will be accepted in English or French, and the proceedings =20will be published by the Presses Universitaires de Rennes. Send =20abstracts of approximately 300 words and a brief CV by December 17th, =20=

2005 to shannon.wells-lassagne_at_univ-ubs.fr and =20ariane.hudelet_at_wanadoo.fr.=